WHEN THEY GOT together in the Fox booth four years ago, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa never expected their partnership to expand to this.

Every Sunday, Fox's No. 2 NFL team covers a game like the Oscars. On Sunday, area fans will watch Kenny Albert, Johnston and Siragusa work the Seahawks- Giants game at 10 a.m., with Albert and Johnston in the booth and Siragusa parked on the field providing analysis.

The three-man team is nothing new. It was perfected when Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Frank Gifford made "Monday Night Football" must-see television. But this is different. Albert and Johnston call the game and Siragusa watches from the end zone, where he can see things cameras don't catch and sideline reporters don't bother to notice.

"When we first started to do this, they wanted me to be a sideline (reporter)," Siragusa said this week. "I told them I wasn't going to report on any injuries, none of that stuff. I told them I wanted to analyze the team, have a good time down there, talk about what's going on in the game, not what happened on Wednesday."

Siragusa, the former Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens lineman, has gained notoriety for his girth but also has become a fan favorite because of his "everyday guy" demeanor. He doesn't wear a suit on the sideline. He dresses, speaks and approaches the fans in a casual manner, making viewers feel comfortable.

Gone are the days when television broadcasters took themselves too seriously. Fans no longer want to see a stuffed shirt on the air, especially when many NFL viewers are munching on chips and salsa and donning Brett Favre jerseys.

Siragusa brings his bubbly, no-nonsense personality to the air, while Albert and Johnston add the conventional analysis. Johnston, the former Dallas Cowboys fullback, is wildly popular because of his gritty playing style, clearing holes for Emmitt Smith on the way to three Super Bowls.

Following his retirement, "Moose" joined CBS Sports and then Fox a year later and has spent the past five years with Siragusa. The chemistry is apparent. Fox offered to give Siragusa a buzzer to slam when he wanted to speak, and he quickly rejected the idea. That buzzer represented a restriction for the trio, and that's not what they wanted.

"Him being actually on the field gives us a great perspective," Johnston said. "He has a really good feel for knowing what kind of play I like to talk about. I've grown to understand what he's looking for. It took us a season and a half to feel really comfortable with it."

Albert, the son of Marv Albert, is the voice of reason. All of the Alberts have the same baritone voice, but Kenny manages to stand out from his father and Uncle Al.

"Obviously I had great teachers over the years, and every holiday growing up would turn into a sports talk show," he said. "I was able to develop my own identity during my post-college years and it's been years at Fox."

All three attribute the success to their work during the week and the weekly Friday night dinners with the production crew in each game city. From those off-camera times, on-camera chemistry develops, making for an entertaining and informative broadcast.

"I don't know if many people would be able to do what Tony does on the field," producer Barry Landis said. "And can you find two guys in the booth that can be able to incorporate that person? That's probably the more difficult part of the equation. And I think we are able to pull it off."

SENSITIVE SIRAGUSA: Siragusa wasn't happy with ESPN's Tony Kornheiser calling Baltimore lineman Haloti Ngata "fat" during Monday's Ravens-Steelers game. Siragusa made a living as a beefy lineman and has a soft spot for the big guys in the trenches.

"I'm not going to call a guy 'fat' because he's a big defensive lineman like we saw Monday night with Tony Kornheiser," Siragusa said. "He's got a lot of nerve calling somebody fat with that bald head and that horrible combover. I was a little (ticked) off."

IT'S ON VERSUS: Washington travels to Arizona for a 4:30 p.m. game on little-known sports network Versus. Versus was formerly the Outdoor Life Channel (the change was needed) and is the official network of the National Hockey League.

STOP IT! Frank Caliendo is very funny and his Charles Barkley impression is priceless, but TBS is going way overboard with "Frank TV" ads during the MLB playoffs. OK, OK, we know it starts Oct. 21, but we don't need reminders after every half-inning. It's taking away from some pretty decent coverage, but then again TBS and TNT have been known to overdose on promoting its own shows.

How many times did we see ads for "The Closer" during the NBA playoffs?

And the in-studio show has had its share of bumps, thanks to Cal Ripken Jr., who is showing that you can't analyze with little practice during the regular season.

During the first day, Ripken called Milwaukee Minnesota and then freely admitted that he lost his train of thought when answering a question on the air.

COMMERCIAL BREAKS: Local Comcast cable subscribers may be able to get Blazers games on Comcast SportsNet, which is expected to spread to the Seattle area. Comcast SportsNet has a 55-game Blazers package this season. ... Yes, FSN picked up the UCLA-WSU game at 7:15 p.m. with Bill McDonald, former UCLA and Dallas Cowboys defensive back James Washington and "The Bachelor" participant and volleyball Olympian Dain Blanton.

... FSN waited too long to reveal the extent of Jake Locker's injury to viewers on Saturday. While reporters had already blogged that the quarterback suffered a broken thumb, play-by-play man Kevin Calabro had yet to report the injury. On the flip side, former Seahawk Mack Strong became more comfortable as the game progressed and pointed out several times the harsh reality -- the Stanford line was blowing its counterparts off the ball.